Keynote - Parlay Consulting

Beth Morrissette, MPA & MSW, is the founding CEO of Parlay Consulting Firm. She specializes in building organizational capacity through board governance, strategic planning, and implementation coaching. Beth has worked in the nonprofit sector for about 20 years; from direct services to Executive Director to Board Member. As an Executive Director, she helped lead a collective impact organization to successfully build partnership across sectors and diversify its funding sources. She received her Master of Social Work and Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). Beth is a strong believer in giving back to the community and making it a better place for the future. She is an elected member of the Westside Community Schools Board of Education, serves on the United Way Community Impact Committee and on the Crossroads of Western Iowa Board of Directors. Beth is honored to have been the recipient of the 2015 Ten Outstanding Young Omahans (TOYO) award and the University of Nebraska at Omaha CPACS Alumni award. She and her husband are parents to a fantastic 16-year-old son and are former foster parents. They are privileged to have developed and maintained a strong relationship with a wonderful foster daughter and her biological family.

Valerie Calderon, Ph.D., is Director of Strategy and Capacity Building at Parlay. She specializes in strategic planning and the design and implementation of programs aimed at improving organizational outcomes and helping leaders to create thriving places to learn, serve, and work. Valerie has more than 13 years of experience leading internal and client teams in program design and implementation. She has led employee engagement and change management initiatives, directed a large-scale project that measures hope and engagement in schools, and led numerous nationally representative education studies for public release. Valerie has provided advice and learning to hundreds of leaders in the U.S. and Canada, delivering numerous keynote addresses and workshops both in-person and online. She has published numerous case studies, reports, and other content for websites and peer-reviewed journals. Most recently, she published a chapter for Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society. Valerie is in her eleventh year of service as an elected member of the Bennington Public Schools Board of Education and is the current president. She was a founding board member for TeamMates Mentoring in Bennington and served as both vice president and president.